National Security Campus move is under way

The Kansas City Plant officially began the move on Jan. 23 to the new National Security Campus. The new facility showcases innovation and cost savings, highlighted by environmentally friendly features and innovative space management.

Over the next 18 months, about 3,300 truckloads will transport some 2,800 pieces of equipment ranging from desk size to tractor trailer size. Estimates are that the entire move will use 30,000 crates – which if stacked would be more than five times the height of Mount Everest. Kansas City Field Office Manager Mark Holecek says the biggest challenges of the move are the sheer size and complexity of what is to be moved.

The on-time, on-budget project has boosted the local economy by generating more than 1,000 construction jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in needed economic development to the region, according to Holecek.

The new facility is certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-rated green campus. It’s expected to save an estimated $100 million in operating costs from a combination of overhead reduction and sustainable strategies that cut energy consumption by more than 50 percent.

The phased-in approach has about 55 office personnel moving in January, joining skeletal shipping and maintenance staffs. Another 200 office employees will make the move next month, when the first of several manufacturing moving stages begin. By the time move-in is complete next year, 2,500 employees will relocate into five new buildings comprising 1.5-million-square-feet on the campus.

Dual operations will be under way at both facilities to ensure uninterrupted delivery of KCP’s mission critical components.